The Shadow's Insanity
by lcmegee
Summary: What would happen if a young girl was left to fend for herself for fifteen years in the world of ninja? Even one with the skill and brains of her clan driving her on is bound to have some issues.
1. From the Mist

I am a woman with a difficult and complicated past. Many think me evil, yet they do not fully understand.

Many years ago, a ninja and his kunoichi wife were sent to the Blood Mist Village. Though the mission was simple, it required much time. They conceived, and on the 11th of naga-tsuki, Yoshino Nara gave birth to a black-haired, green-eyed girl, whom they named Skai. Shikaku Nara suggested that they leave her in the hospital while they took the chance to relax back home, where they could better defend themselves.

Unfortunately, when they went to pick up their beloved eldest daughter, she was not there, for she had been stolen by a senile old woman who claimed to be her grandmother. Though they searched long and hard, they were called back to Konohagakure no Sato. Their desperate search was deemed doomed, and the child was left to be raised by the old, senile woman for three years.

On the third year of my life, I was taken from my kidnapper by a peculiar pair, the Demon Brothers. The old woman's heart failed in their attack. They dragged me off to their hideout and threw me into a fairly small, dark room with nothing more than a crack in the ceiling for light and a couple ragged blankets on the floor.

Though I cried myself to sleep the first few nights, I quickly adjusted. I had a strong will that kept me going through nearly any hardship. Since I was held in the room constantly with the only human contact being when they threw me food or changed my chamber pot, I quickly became bored. After playing dress-up with the blankets, trying to jump to touch the ceiling, and playing paddy-cake with myself, I began randomly kicking and punching in the air. At first my form was terrible, but the shinobi blood ran hot in my veins, and after two years, I had mastered taijutsu to at least the extent of chuunin and was as silent as any jounin.

Once I could no longer improve until I was older and was shown some new techniques, I tired of the same forms over and over again. Since I had little common sense at that age, I decided to defy gravity and climb up the wall. With the small amount of logic I had at five years old, I figured that if I forced my feet to stick to the wall, it would work. Miraculously, after multiple attempts, each with their own small successes and failures, I walked up the wall.

I could feel the energy that held them in place in my feet, and limitless options sprung into my mind. I learned to intensify my eyesight and hearing. Through this force that I would later learn was called "chakra", I could move faster than ever. I learned to manipulate the air around me and lash out with it and bind things. Once in a while I would try out a new idea and find that it was nigh impossible to force my mind to concentrate, for some odd reason.

After two more years, I decided that I no longer wished to be cooped up in a small room for the rest of my life. I carefully listened for the Demon Brothers to leave the house. Beforehand, I had realized that I would need some amount of provisions, so I searched the house until I had found food. I used a random bag to stuff it all in. On my way out, I noticed some sharp, pointy objects. Eagerly, I grabbed a few handfuls and stuffed them on top of the food.

I exited the house without confrontation and began wandering the village. I had become wary of people, so I stuck to the shadows until I at last found my way out of Kirigakure no Sato.

I do not know why the Demon Brothers kept me for four years. For that matter, I do not even know why they captured me in the first place.

In the wilderness, I soon ran out of food. I learned to use the weapons I had obtained, but had found no opportunity to use them yet. Finally, I came across a hare. Unfortunately for it, I had better speed and agility, so it was soon wriggling in my grasp. It broke its own neck in its desperation, and I attempted to take a bite. I came up spitting hair out of my mouth. After a brief meditation upon the problem, I skinned the hare. After another attempt at a bite, I found the meat to be too tough, and that it tasted nothing like the browner food I had been given. I could think of no way to make it edible. I wandered about with my catch, hoping to find a solution.

After a couple hours of walking and trying to keep off the flies, I spotted an orange light in the distance. I cautiously approached and found two men asleep by a blazing center of warmth. I decided to experiment and set the hare on this blazing phenomenon. To my delight, the glowing orange _thing_ spread over the animal and turned it the brown I was so familiar with. Completely not to my delight, the hare began turning a crispy black and started flaking away. I quickly snatched it from the heat. The heat suddenly on my fingers caused me to cast my catch into the forest. I raced after it, finding it cooled enough to touch and eat by its short flight. I dug in, finding the meat much more edible.

Once the bones had been cleaned, I crept up to the two men. They carried a pack each, sitting at their feet. I dug through their possessions, finding a differently shaped sharp object in each bag, plenty of food, and a box-like thing that carried water. I gathered up my new items and headed back into the wilderness.

Many years passed in the wilderness. I found many small villages and learned much in each: the names of all the discoveries I had made, such as chakra, kunai and shuriken, knives, fire, and more; how to use hand signs, which overcame the sudden inability to concentrate I would occasionally experience on more difficult jutsus; and several new jutsus.

I developed several unique jutsus. My most powerful was kuro kage kaze no jutsu. When enacted, I would use wind chakra to sweep over an area and cover it in shadow. Once the shadows were settled, I could completely control anything in them. Though it was powerful, it consumed almost half of my chakra reserves. Another weakness was that large concentrations of chakra somehow defied the jutsu and rendered my victim unharmed.

At some point I figured out that there was a much easier way to obtain any provisions than hunting and stealing:mugging. When executed correctly, it was quick, clean, and left no witnesses. It also was more entertaining and improved my skills more than thieving. Also, since I had never had a true connection with anyone, I felt no guilt when I killed the people. They were more-so objects that I could benefit from than actual people to me. Luckily, I learned who ninja were before I attacked any.

For the course of eight years, I sharpened my skills and gained the possessions of my victims. Soon, I possessed enough wealth to compete with some of the richest clans and had the skills to defeat a jounin, even without kuro kage kaze.

Though I wished to stay independent of all the competing villages, at the age of fifteen, I encountered a pair that would change the course of my life.


	2. Strangers

I spotted a man with black hair of average height walking beside a slightly shorter woman with bright yellow hair. They both wore straw hats and black cloaks with red clouds. After silently enacting kuro kage kaze no jutsu, I jumped onto a branch beside them.

"Take off your hats and set all possessions of any value on the ground in front of you," I commanded.

They followed my first order, but rather than follow the second as well,they peered curiously at me. Both of their kekkei genkai were activated.

"What is this jutsu supposed to do?" asked the woman curiously.

For a second, my mouth hung agape. My jutsu had never failed me before. I quickly regained control, released the jutsu, and took a fighting stance.

"Who are you?" I questioned.

"Why should we tell you?" she retorted with a smirk. My eyes narrowed – I never did like smirks.

"Why not?" I returned. She didn't see a good response to that, so she answered the question.

"My name is Mariah Namikaze. This is Itachi Uchiha. We are both ex-members of Konohagakure no Sato and current members or the organization Akatsuki. You are?"

"I tend to not give my name to those who I intend to kill."

"You could not even touch me."

"Let's find out." With that, I merged into the shadows behind me. I ran around her in random patterns, sticking to the shadows. At random intervals, I would throw mass amounts of kunai and shuriken at her. She was able to dodge them all easily, so I drew two kunai and moved in. I sliced my right arm towards her neck, but she deflected the blow with a kunai of her own. With her other hand, she struck towards my neck, so I leaned back to dodge and kicked my knee up towards her chin. She stood back slightly just in time, so I arched my back, placing my hands on the ground and snapped my legs toward her. When she ducked down and swung her leg out, intending to knock my arms out from under me, I pushed up and over her head, landing on my feet. Just as she came up from her attack, I turned around, placing a kunai at her throat.

"Impressive. We could use you, " she observed.

"Now is not the time for you to try to become my superior – I could kill you now without a second thought," I returned.

"If you could, you would have already," she said. I snorted at this comment.

"Just because I have not killed you, does not mean I can't. Enough of this." I pulled the kunai into her throat, but she vanished before I could even draw blood.

"Where is she?" I inquired of the man still standing there.

"Don't worry – she'll be back. You're lucky too – she's in a particularly leaf-mood today." He answered.

"Wha–'' I was interrupted by the woman charging out of the trees with an azure glow around her. The glow formed two wings, claws at her hands and feet, and horns out her head. She came straight at me, so I instinctively ran, tearing a branch off a tree as I went. I turned towards her, finding a blue orb of chakra spinning in her hand. I swung the branch towards her, hoping to prevent it from hitting me, but, whether I was a moment late or too soon, she hit the side of the branch before it reached her. The ninjutsu missed me, but the blast from the shattering branch broke my jutsu and threw me into a tree. I slowly faded from consciousness. When I woke, I found myself in a unfamiliar room with expensive decorations.

"Where am I?" I drowsily asked anyone nearby.

I heard the voice of the man, who's name I had forgotten soon after I heard it – I'm not good with names – answer my question.

"Amekagure no Sato."

"What do you want with me?" I was gradually becoming more wary.

"What is your name, age, rank, and village?" This time it was the woman, who's name I had also forgotten.

"Why should I tell you?"

"It is either that or 72 hours of torture."

I snorted. "I've had worse. Bring it on."

She shrugged and looked into my eyes. I glimpsed crimson irises with black tomoe in each and was plunged into darkness. I looked around, finding everything in black and white except the woman's eyes. I was chained in place with little room for movement. She drew a katana and plunged it into my leg. I blankly looked up at her, showing my immunity to the pain. Seeing this, she stabbed me more and threw a few jutsus at me until what felt like 72 hours had passed. Though mentally I was fine, my brain forced me into unconsciousness when it was over in order to 'repair any damage'. I tried to force it to let me wake, since I had no damage, but its instincts were too strong. I was, and still am not, the most mentally stable person. After a few minutes, I woke.

The woman asked for my name, age, rank, and village again.

"Ugh, you won't let me go until I answer your questions, will you?" They both calmly stared at me. "I thought not. My name is Skai Nara, age 15, not sure, and I know no more than you."

The woman seemed as if she had realized something and responded, "I may know your village. If you agree to work for me as a spy there, I will tell you." I shrugged in agreement and she continued. "You come from a family of shadow manipulators in Konohagakure no Sato. Report any useful information you find and keep an eye on my younger siblings, Naruto Uzumaki and Naoki Namikaze." She handed me a bingo book and gave me further instructions on it. "The information in there is a few years old, but it should suffice. Report any updates to me. One more thing, do not mention who brought you back."

I realized that even if I wouldn't repeat it, I should still know who I was working for. Therefore, I asked, "What are your names again?"

She sighed and the man responded. "Itachi Uchiha and Mariah Namikaze. You should make an effort to remember them." He turned to Mariah and said, "You should probably get going if you want to have her at the hokage's before night." He gently kissed her, and Mariah shimmered us in front of a pair of giant gates.

She pulled up a hood and we walked in. I looked around, taking in as much as possible – I didn't want to get caught in a corner if I had to escape. We soon arrived at the tallest building in the village. The symbol for fire was painted clearly on a sign hung on the top. She told me to go in and left.


	3. Konoha

Once at the top of the stairs, I knocked on a door. An old man's voice called me in. Inside, he asked who I was.

"Skai Nara. I'm looking for my family."

He sighed with exhaustion, probably from the four-foot piles of paper on his desk. "Alright, what are their names?"

"I don't know. You see, I was abandoned fifteen years ago at birth."

He peered at me suspiciously, but after digging through a couple file cabinets, he found what he needed.

"What was your name again?"

"Skai Nara."

"You are her! The Nara's will be so happy! Their lost daughter has come home!" I looked at him weirdly. I supposed that a missing child coming home was good, but it didn't seem to me to be _that _exciting. After his exclamation, he set the file down and gave me some instructions. "Come back here tomorrow at noon. I will have your family here. Your father's name is Shikaku, your mother's is Yoshino, and you have a younger brother by five years. He is Shikamaru. Do you have money?" I nodded. "Good. Get a room for tonight and rest."

I left the building and went in search for an inn. After settling in a room on the third floor of a random inn i found, I went in search of some food. I quickly came across a small restaurant and settled into a table. Once I finished my meal, I paid and decided to begin exploring the village.

I created a general map in my mind of the main roads and major buildings in the village before more leisurely wanderings. At one point, a man with long white hair strolled up to me. Though I'm not especially pretty – just slightly above average if you ask me – he began hitting on me. He continued to offer me drinks and other...less pleasant things even when I turned and walked away. I finally slammed my fist into his nose, breaking it, and sprinted in the opposite direction to be rid of him. Sadly, I doubt he learned his lesson.

The next morning, I awoke around ten. I found the local supermarket and bought a jug of milk and cereal for breakfast. Once done, I continued wandering around the village in search of something to do for the remaining hour and a half till noon. Finally, I spotted a young kid around ten years of age with the exact same hair color as the Akatsuki woman that hired me. He had these ridiculous goggles on his head and was laughing maniacally. I figured that this was the little brother I was supposed to watch, so I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Hello," I said.

"Who are you?" He glared at me and anxiously glanced down the path he had come.

"Skai. Who or what are you running from?" I inquired.

"Why do you care?"

"I care?" He was taken aback by my response and stuttered, trying to think of a good come-back. He failed.

"You should!"

"..."

"Just let me go already!" He had noticed two men in the distance shouting his name. Rather than let him go, I dragged him into an ally way and pulled him on top of the fence. From there, I hopped onto a building and ran where someone of his level wouldn't be able to get to easily.

Though I had just saved him from possible punishment, he continued to shout at me, demanding that I release him. I slammed my free hand over his mouth and hissed into his ear, "If you want to be found, go right on ahead and continue shouting like that. If you'd rather escape unscathed, then I suggest you be silent. Understand?" He nodded and I cautiously removed my hand from his mouth. "Anyway, as I said before, I'm Skai. Who're you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, the next hokage!" Yep, it was the little brother. No wonder she left the village...

"Okay... So, what'd you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Those chuunin had to be chasing you for a reason. What was it?"

"Oh, that... I stole the hokage's hat. I dropped it though."

"Oh." I noticed that it was about 11:30. "I don't know about you, but I'm starved. Know any good places to eat around here?"

His face lit up. "Ichiraku's Ramen," he said with certainty. I wondered if this ramen shop was as good as he seemed to think. We set off with him in the lead towards this fabled shop.

I sat down doubtfully. I had had ramen before, and it was one of my more favorable meals, but certainly it wasn't _that_ good here.

I was wrong. After one sip of the sauce of my bowl of miso-ramen, I was in love. It was without a doubt the most delicious thing I had ever tasted.

"Wow," was all I could say. After buying several more bowls, three of which were the kid's, I headed towards the hokage's office.

"Come in." I walked in finding a man and a woman conversing with the hokage and a boy around the same age as the 'next hokage.'

"Skai!" the hokage greeted me. "You're here! Shikaku, Yoshino, I'd like you to meet your daughter." Yoshino burst into tears and ran towards me, showering me in kisses and hugs. I tentatively patted her back and glanced around the room. Shikaku was staring at me in shock and the boy I presumed to be my little brother turned to the window after learning who I was. I liked this kid.

After a few minutes, Yoshino calmed down, and we turned towards the hokage.

"Thank you for giving us back our daughter." Yoshino bowed deeply to the hokage.

"She deserves more credit than I, madam. She came here on her own." After requesting that I return here the following day, he dismissed us.


	4. Academy

The Nara house lay on the outskirts of the village at the very edge of the forest. A few hundred acres were marked off by warning signs to keep off the property – something about deer... The house itself was small – only about five hundred square feet. There was no guest room, so if I didn't want to sleep on the couch, I would have to share Shikamaru's room. Neither of us wanted that. My parents wanted to go on a picnic, but Shikamaru saved me from that by pointing out that I would probably prefer to settle in first. Therefore, I took the afternoon to add approximately six hundred square feet to the house. This new section would include a bedroom, a kitchen, a small living room, and a bathroom. Though the men of the house were eager to have some extra space, they were too lazy to do anything but suggest some building tips. Yoshino chose to clean the current house and start dinner.

Incredibly, by the end of the day, the annex was completed, including all appliances. Before I settled on the couch for the night, I ran to the inn I stayed at the night before to pick up my meager possessions.

The next morning, I painted the walls, giving my bedroom black walls, my living room dark gray, my bathroom a hazy gray, and the kitchen a rusty red. I found a couple pieces of nice furniture, such as a cherry bedroom set with engraved designs of trees, vines, battles, etc. and a comfortable couch with a wooden frame and black cushions.

Around two in the afternoon, I decided to visit the hokage.

"Yes?" he called as I knocked on the door frame. "Oh, good, you're here. You have some skills of a shinobi, right?" I nodded. "Then we need to determine your rank. I'd like to send you through the academy, for at least a day to ensure we don't need to fill in any holes in your education. Alright?" Though I was annoyed that he doubted my ability, I didn't particularly want to spend the rest of the day arguing, so I just nodded.

"You will start class at seven tomorrow at the academy. Understood?" I nodded again. I would find a map of the village on my way home.

"Do you need me for anything else?" I asked. He shook his head, and I headed out the door.

I picked up some appliances, decorations, and remaining pieces of furniture along with the map on the way home. It took a couple of trips, but everything was in the house by nightfall. After a couple of hours, everything was up and running, including plumbing, gas, and electricity. My family kept trying to sneak in to have a look, but I refused to let them in my room.

The next morning, I dressed in my usual total black outfit and left for the academy. I found the far corner of the room and sat down. A girl in pink came up to me and introduced herself as Sakura. I eyed her for a second before looking away. Twelve other students were also in the room – a girl with short black hair and snake-like eyes who sat on my left, a kid with blue-ish black hair who claimed I was sitting in his seat, but calmly walked away when I refused to move, five girls, including a blond and the pink-haired girl who kept following him around, the blond boy I had met yesterday, my little brother, a kid with a dog on his head, a fat kid eating a bag of chips, a girl with pale white eyes and black hair, and a kid with a gray hooded jacket and sunglasses.

A chuunin cam into the room when the bell rang. He took role, and sighed when he reached the name "Namikaze Naoki." A few minutes later, a bright blue-haired girl came charging through the doors.

"I made it!" she exclaimed.

The chuunin sighed. "Not quite, Naoki. You're six minutes late." She walked gloomily to the empty seat to my right. The chuunin began a lecture on the proper form of throwing shuriken. The girl obviously became quickly bored and passed a note to me. I glanced down, reading, "hi! im naoki! ^-^"

I sighed, but grabbed a pen on the desk writing, "hi," and passed it back.

The note was returned saying, "who r u?"

"skai"

"cool name"

"thanks? do u hav to kepe pasing this bak?"

"yes." I sighed. Rather than pass it back, i kept it so that she couldn't add more. She glared at me. I raised an eyebrow and began to watch the lecture, noticing the flaws in his form. The girl pulled out a new piece of paper, but passed it to the snake-eyed girl to my left instead of me.

I soon bored of watching him teach forms and techniques that I had figured out on my own years ago. To pass the time, I leaned back and took a nap. I soon woke to an elbow jabbed in my ribs. I sprang up and looked around. I realized that the blue-haired girl called...eh, forget it...had been the one to wake me for the reason being a paper had been set in front of me. I noticed that the sensei was writing the words 'POP QUIZ' in large letters on the board. I looked down at the paper in confusion – what was a 'pop quiz?' The girl on my left noticed my confusion and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Just mark which option that answers the question correctly," she whispered. I followed her advice and filled out the paper easily. After two minutes, I had finished and glanced around to try to figure out what to do with it. After another five minutes, the pink-haired girl stood up and set her paper on the chuunin's desk. I followed suit, noticing that my brother, who sat in the far back corner of the room, was sound asleep. I mentally smiled and returned to my nap.

Another jab in the ribs, but from the left, brought me back awake. The girl with snake-eyes was looking at me. "C'mon, we're going outside. Shuriken-throwing practice." I blinked my comprehension and we proceeded outside.

The class surrounded the sensei as he gave some basic instructions on lines and proper form. I ended up in the same line as the two girls I had sat with and they began to talk with me. The snake-eyed girl began the conversation.

"By the way, my name's Araya."

"I'm Skai," I responded after a couple seconds, realizing I was supposed to respond.

The blue-haired girl cut in: "So, what are you doing here? You seem a little old to still be in Academy."

"Really? I wouldn't know. The hokage said I had to take a day here to help determine my rank."

"Oh, so you're not one of those f*****g idiots who had to be held back a year. Good," stated ….A...A...forget it! stated the girl.

"No."

Naomi, or whatever her name was, asked, "So where have you been that they're just now trying to determine your rank?"

It was the other girl's turn to throw, so I waited until she finished – I didn't want to explain myself twice. She tried to show everyone up by hitting a bird that was flying by, but instead was reprimanded by the sensei for not obeying instructions. She spit some curses at him and returned to where we were standing. I began my short story.

"Wandering the wilderness and just trying to survive for the past fifteen years of my life." The blue-haired girl looked horrified and the snake-eyed girl seemed bored. It was my turn to throw.

I took the five shuriken and lined up with the target. I easily threw all five in a tight grouping in the center of the board. As I casually walked back, I noticed the kid who had claimed I had taken his seat succeed in throwing four of the shuriken in the innermost circle with the last one in the middle of the next ring out. Several girls, not including the two I was talking with, made some fan-girly squeals and fawned over him. He walked coolly away from them.

"I f*****g hate that kid!" Snake-eyes shouted. "He annoys the s**t out of me! Seriously, who cares if he lost his entire clan? I've lived my entire life on my own! Do you see me moping around all day? No!" She continued on in this manner for quite some time until it was Blue-hair's turn.

She was just as successful as the other dark-haired kid had been, making them the two second best in the class, behind me. The snake-eyed girl had the potential to match them, but she was to busy killing birds to get an accurate score. After a few more throws, the chuunin lead us back inside.

The sensei demonstrated a simple replacement jutsu to us, having us try it a couple of times. I quickly mastered it – i had learned a similar water-replacement jutsu a few years past.

At last the day ended, and I headed out the door. The two girls I had sat by called farewells after me. Unsure of how to respond, I just continued walking. With nothing better to do, I spent the rest of the day sleeping.


	5. The Test

The next day, I was summoned to the hokage's office. "So, I here your day at academy went well," he said. I shrugged. He called for someone named "Iruka" and explained that they were going to go ahead and test me for genin status. I recognized the chuunin from yesterday holding a clipboard, saying in a bored tone, "Okay, we're gonna test you on a henge first. You can start at any time."

I had never learned that jutsu. "How do you do that?" Iruka looked at me surprised. I decided to explain myself. "You see, I've lived in the wilderness for the past eight years, and before that, I was held captive for four. I've never had the chance to learn most basic skills from anyone. Everything I know is from either me teaching myself or randomly having a scroll or someone show me. No one ever showed me that jutsu, or anything like it. I guess you could show me first. But then I would need a chance to practice. True, if it's anything like the replacement jutsu, it probably won't be that hard, but still. Or I guess you could have me do a different jutsu. Or we could skip this stage of the test entirely. But still." I paused to catch my breath. The shocked hokage seized the opportunity to stop my rant. My rants come about from my lack of experience of creating a short and sweet explanation. People rarely expect them since I have a deep, relatively quiet, and very feminine voice from little usage, making me sound shy.

"Why don't we just show you the jutsu, and we'll see how fast you can master it."

The wide-eyed Iruka slowly nodded. He quickly performed it, explaining where he spread his chakra, how much he used, and what he concentrated on. After a few attempts, I was able to perform it successfully. The chuunin briefly tested my aim and ability to perform simple taijutsu maneuvers and then turned to the hokage. After a brief discussion, he handed me a headband with the leaf symbol etched into the middle.

Though reluctant to show my ignorance, I asked, "What exactly does a genin do?" Iruka blinked in surprise, but briefly explained to me the system of ranks in the ninja world. I noticed that my missions would be relatively effortless until I achieved a higher rank, so I asked, "How can I become a chuunin?"

"By taking the chuunin exams, of course," the hokage explained. "How else?" I shrugged my response and began to head out the door. "Wait! You still need to meet your new sensei! He's still on duty, so he'll only be you sensei part-time, for training sessions and a few missions, but you should still stay long enough to meet him." I paused as I digested this thought. I would have someone in command over me? Whom I must obey at all costs? This was definitely not good. Yet I knew that I had to go with it for the sake of being a spy. That kunoichi had been far more powerful than I, and I didn't want to learn what she might do to me. I inwardly sighed and turned back just in time to see a man with with white spiked hair and a headband over his left eye climb in through a window.

"Hello. You must be Skai." I blinked confirmation. He continued in a bored tone, "Well, I'm Kakashi Hatake. Sorry I'm late, I had to help a blind boy I found get back to his special school in Suna." I noticed badly hidden eye rolls from the other two men. "So, Lord Hokage, do I have leave to take my new pupil?" After a nod from the Hokage, he beckoned me to follow him out the window.

Soon we came to training ground near the edge of the village.

"Alright. I need to test your abilities a little more thoroughly. Within a one mile radius of this point, I have hidden two bells. If you find them within twenty-four and bring them back to this point, you pass. Got it?" I nodded. "Go!"

I darted off into the forest, scanning the area briefly and getting to know the terrain. Soon I came to the conclusion that the only way I would be able to find the bells was through luck, which I had a serious disbelief in, or by the jounin telling me where they were. I darted back to the center point, where I found him sitting on a log reading a book. Rather than waste time gently prying the information from him, I simply used kuro kage kaze to make him give me the bells. Oddly, all the effect it produced was him looking around confused at the sudden darkness. I released the jutsu and demanded, "Where are the bells?" He smiled up at me, got up, and began walking into the woods. I cautiously followed, wondering at the cause of my jutsu's double failure.

About a quarter of a mile into the forest, he pointed at a hollow dead tree. I carefully checked for signs of a trap, reached in, and took out a small bell. While tying it to a belt loop on my pants, I asked, "I don't suppose you'll tell me where the other one is?"

He smirked, making his first mistake. My eyes narrowed slightly, and I swiftly ducked into the shadows of the forest. Silently, I crept behind him and charged my right fist. I swung it towards his neck, but he ducked to the side and quickly stepped behind me, faster than most other ninja I had ever encountered. While he was bringing a kunai up to my neck, I transferred the chakra from my hand to my elbow and brought the raised arm down to jab him in the ribs. He flinched back, and in a continuation of my previous attack, I swung my left leg around into his side. The shock caused him to drop the kunai. He immediately reached for it, but I had already flipped over him to be out of reach of easy, faster attacks. When he began swinging his arm around, I had enough time to draw my own kunai and place it at his neck. His swing stopped.

"Where is the bell," I growled. He smiled in defeat and suggested that he take me there. I knew that I had only seen a taste of this man's skills, and wanted to see more, so I told him no. After he explained a brief set of directions, I headed out. Soon I found it under a rock and turned back to the original point. Once there, I found him again reading a book on a log, and I decided to make a break for it. He immediately appeared in front of me, so I ducked to the side to buy me enough time to perform a replacement jutsu and henge in quick succession. He was fooled by the henge for only a short instant, but it was just enough for me to dart to my starting point.

I was mildly pleased with my success, but I didn't bother to show it on my expressionless face. The jounin – I doubted that I would ever really consider him my sensei – came up to me to congratulate me. He told me that I would need to meet him the following day at a certain training ground at seven then dismissed me.


	6. Chuunin Exams

I was mildly pleased with my success, but I didn't bother to show it on my expressionless face. The jounin – I doubted that I would ever really consider him my sensei – came up to me to congratulate me. He told me that I would need to meet him the following day at a certain training ground at seven then dismissed me.

I headed home to a homemade dinner of yakitori. The following morning I woke up around nine in the morning. I managed to arrive at the training grounds at ten. Kakashi was not there. After two more hours of waiting, he finally showed up, only to give me a mission to save a lost cat. The cat kept trying to scratch me, so I left in a grumpy mood, though my face remained blank. I went on a mugging expedition to take it out on. Fortunately for my family, I easily found a jounin level red-haired man with a decent amount of money on him. Though they escaped that night, my family soon learned how frightening I could be.

Despite my new reputation, I convinced my father to teach me some of the most basic techniques of our clan, especially the shadow possession jutsu. Once he saw how quickly I mastered them, he chose to show me how to use my shadow on physical things.

A couple weeks later, I was eligible to participate in the chuunin exams. After some arguing I managed to get the hokage to allow me to enter as a one-man cell, rather than the usual three.

While walking back home from the argument, I noticed a familiar man walking towards me. Oh no, I needed to remember his name! I...Ita...Itachi...no that wasn't it...Itabi? Sure... He reached me and beckoned for me to follow him down an alleyway.

"We sent a messenger with orders to return once his mission was complete. He never returned. Did you meet him?" He inquired.

"Maybe. I'm not entirely sure. What did he look like?"

"Red hair. Jounin level. He should have been here a couple of weeks ago." Though my face remained blank, I had an epiphany, and not a good one.

"I think I killed your messenger..."

"You what?"

"Killed your messenger."

"Why?"

"I was mugging... It was an accident." He did a face-palm.

"Did you even get the message?" I shook my head. He did another face-palm. "We want you to pass the chuunin exams. Therefore, you need to find out what the exams are and how to ensure that you pass. Understood?" I nodded. "Well, good luck then." He left the alleyway and I began thinking of a way to complete this task.

That night I silently approached the hokage's office, slipping from shadow to shadow. After passing a couple guards, I reached the window, used my new shadow technique to pick the lock. Soon I was in and I began rifling through file cabinets. The papers were easily found – the were labeled in large red letters, "CHUUNIN EXAMS: PROCTORS ONLY." So much for that...

I read through the three tests quickly. I assumed I would be able to pass the written test easily. How hard could it be? The second exam, a survival test, would be nothing. I would probably take my time and mug some of the other teams on that. The last might be difficult. My opponents could have an ability that defeats mine, and I would probably want to keep my techniques simple. I should still win though.

I finally headed home to get a good nights rest.

My jounin overseer lead me to the entry room, gave me some last-minute worthless advice, and left. I found a seat next to a window halfway back from the front, where escape would be easiest, and studied the man in the front. After a moment of watching us with piercing eyes, he introduced himself as Ibiki. After the rules had been explained, the test was passed out.

The first few questions were fairly simple, since they involved typical ninja problems. I reached question number four, and went blank. It was asking something about verbs and interrogatory questions... I skipped down to a math problem, which asked something about velocity, gravity, and acceleration. I was completely lost. Maybe my previous education, if it could be called that, wasn't sufficient after all. With a heavy sigh I began to casually glance around the room.

I then found the three chuunin who were easily filling out their papers. After a bit of contemplation, I decided to try making a reverse version of the shadow possession jutsu. I reorganized the hand signs and focused my chakra in the same way as a normal shadow possession. Following several attempts, luckily with no explosions or other attention-attractants, I managed to cause my body to imitate a chuunin's movements perfectly. I realized that this jutsu would not nearly have the effect as a sharingan, sadly, since my body did not "remember" the movements and I could not copy jutsus. Its current use was satisfactory, though.

The hour was up and the proctor gave his annoying little speech on the difficulty of the last question. I had read about this supposed "impossible question" in the file. Its simplicity was annoying, but there was nothing I could do.

Soon the population of the room had been cut in half. I yawned in preparation for the long encouraging speech that was about to ensue. An hour later, the proctor dismissed us, reminding us to meet at training ground 44 in one week. Why we had an entire week to prepare, I will never understand.

I chose to use my week to scout around the training ground, known more commonly as the Forest of Death, and strategize. I knew that I needed to collect scrolls, but I decided to gather more than necessary to minimize the number of remaining opponents. Besides, I would be able to mug them then, and that nearly always provided amusement.

The day finally arrived and after signing the death slips, all the teams lined up at the gates. They shot open, and I heard the teams rushing into the forest. I, on the other hand, casually strolled in. We had three days, after all. It wasn't like there was any rush. Within the first day, I had taken the scrolls of three teams. That night, I stole two more from some sleeping genin who didn't know how to properly set traps. They didn't even have the chance to scream. One of them had packed some particularly tasty food in his pack, which made for a much better meal than grilled giant centipede.

The next morning, I decided to head straight for the tower. After gathering a third scroll that had been dropped by some idiot, I encountered an odd team of rain ninjas. On a random impulse, I asked whether or not they knew Mariah and Itachi (how I remembered their names I still don't know). They immediately glanced nervously at each other and declared they had never heard the names before. These three needed to work on their abilities to lie. After a brief discussion revealing my position, I learned some interesting intelligence about my two superiors: both of them held the unique ability of sharingan. I knew from reading some files that Kakashi also had a sharingan eye. The pieces fell into place in my mind, and I understood a great weakness of my most powerful jutsu: it would not work on any sharingan user. This information upset me – what else could hold up against it? I would learn the answer soon enough.

In the meantime, I was ready to be off to the tower, so I used kuro kage kaze on the team, killing them on the spot. I found their scroll and headed off to the tower. After crossing the scrolls on the floor, Kakashi appeared and explained some supposedly philosophical statement describing the balance of mind and body. I walked in the now open doors, laid my eight scrolls on a desk in front of a surprised proctor, and found the snack bar.

Soon the remaining three teams and I were summoned before the proctors and jounin. The final exam was announced to take place in four weeks, in which time we were to prepare in whatever way we saw fit.


	7. Interval

A week later I stopped by the ramen shop after some intense training. While ordering my bowl, I noticed a familiar figure watching me. The man had apparently been able to sneak into town with a hat, despite his classic Akatsuki cloak. I turned to his accusing gaze. "Why are you here?"

"Where were you? You were supposed to meet Mariah and I three days ago!" he asked.

"Well, how did you expect me to know that? Try sending a message of some sort next time."

"We did. Three genin in the exams. From the rain village. Sound familiar?" It did. I had killed them without even finding why they were in the exams. I suppose I had assumed Mariah and her partner to advance them for similar reasons as myself.

"I killed them, sorry." He gave me a shocked and silent "Why?" "Because they were in my way and never gave me any such message, so I saw no further use for their lives."

"Are you insane?" I didn't quite no how to react to this question.

"But what is the meaning of 'insane'? Don't we all have a little bit of insanity in us? One could argue that 'there are different levels of insanity,' but can you really measure something of the mind? Isn't the mind so vast and complex that it is immeasurable? So why is it that if one mind works slightly different from others, it is considered insane? Isn't a different way of thinking a good thing? Can't different ways of thinking bring out new ideas that lead towards the benefit of us all? And so why..."

"Stop!" he interrupted. "Enough. You are truly insane. Well, here's a new note. Be on time." I finished my ramen and read the note as he walked away. I was to be at the south gate of Sunagakure no Sato at two in two days. On my way home, I found a map to locate it, and found some kids messing around in an alley. I remembered the blue-haired girl as my superior's sister. The other was the kid that her friend despised. Judging by the look on her face, she didn't. I knew that sharingan was a strictly Uchiha bloodline, so I decided to try to find out how the blue-haired girl's sister had acquired it.

The boy saw me coming and arrogantly exclaimed, "You're that over-aged student from the other day. What do you want?" I casually said that I was just wandering by and felt like talking to them. "Do we look like we want to talk to you?" The blue-haired girl seconded his motion. I was already getting peeved by his sheer unprecedented arrogance – there were a few smirks in there too, but I pressed on to satiate my curiosity. I tried a more direct assault.

"Boy, do you have a sharingan?" He grimaced in reply. "I see. I'll go find someone more knowledgeable and experienced on the subject." He rushed to give me answers in order to prove that he was better than I had pronounced, as expected. "I'll get it eventually. Most Uchihas do as they grow in skill." Keeping my air of superiority, I continued to walk away. I would expand on my new information later. The girl, seeing her companions discomfort at my shun, tried to stop me.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"What's it to you? There's not point in me staying unless one of you has some secret about kekkai genkai you care to share."

"My sister has one, the doujutsu. It copies other people's kekkai genkai, like the sharingan. Why do you want to know about kekkai genkai?" she asked suspiciously.

"General curiosity." So that explained Mariah. I went home and prepared to leave, telling my parents that I would be away on a training expedition. On arrival in Suna, I tried some of the ramen. It was grainy and disgusting – I don't recommend it. Eat the cactus pies instead.

The next day I found two cloaked people just inside the south gate. I truly don't understand how the villages' guards never learned to identify the black cloaks with red clouds. Mariah and the Uchiha guy brought me back to an inn to ask me a few questions. I tried to answer them, really, but she just asked too hard of questions.

"Are you absolutely certain you do not know the third proctor's name?"

"No! Why does he even matter? Wait, it might have been a girl... Um..."

"Oh, never mind. You really should try to pay better attention to these details. You are a spy, after all."

"Yes, yes, I know. Speaking of which, which bijuu do you have?"

She answered without thinking, "the 3-tailed dragon. Why? And how is that speaking of which..."

"Oh nothing. How do you use it?" She just frowned at me until I dropped the point. Once it was clear that they needed nothing else from me, I headed out the door. The next morning, I began the trek home.

I came across three cloud ninja on my return journey. They fell to my kunai easily, and I decided to properly dispose of the bodies randomly. While dragging the third victim across the sand, I caught a glimmer of an approaching traveler. After quickly concealing my presence, I saw a black cloaked figure walk along the path. He paused, turned an orange-masked face towards me, then continued on his way. Not knowing what to make of this strange man, I finished my work and finished the journey home.


	8. The Final Exam

After three more weeks of intense training (mugging mostly), the final exam arrived. In the first tier, I was pitted against some pitiful excuse for a genin, let alone a ninja. After casually evading his attacks, I learned his basic fighting style and dove in for the kill. He tried to use some advanced trick up his sleeve, but he couldn't even perform it fast enough to avoid my kunai in his heart. I didn't even need to use a jutsu on him, beyond the mocking replacement.

The next tier gave me someone who could at least hold his own against an average chuunin. He too was not a real challenge, though, especially when I used a wind dragon technique I had found off a mugged scroll to blow through his lightning-type attacks. I left him alive – he would make a fine chuunin in a few years.

My third fight was the most interesting. I had already established that I could not use any of my original jutsus with so many spectators. She was a native of the mist village, and rather skilled in her water jutsus. We began as the rest, each in our fighting stance across from each other on the field. She made the first move, using a rather massive jutsu to excrete water from the air and surroundings to form a middling-sized pool between us. I quickly fled to the wall and launched a single kunai to observe what would happen next. The water leaped up to catch and rebound the kunai as she stepped into it. I smiled – this would be a decent challenge.

I launched off the wall, pulling a handful of shuriken out. I flung them all around me, watching as the water reached for each one. Continuing to launch shuriken, I kept moving and kept a careful eye on my opponent's technique. I was almost beginning to believe it really did have no limit, when...there. That single shuriken passed through, forcing her to dodge as a snippet of her hair flew after the starred blade. She concealed the failure well, having been and continuing to move in flowing patterns to guide her jutsu. I fled back to wall, compiling what I had just discovered.

Moments after my feet touched ground, she, realizing her blind spot had been found, launched into a full assault. Her water took on forms of whips and blades, split into countless individual weapons, and began to assail me. Her skill still needed some growth, fortunately, as she could not control that many weapons individually, but had to use them as a single swarm. At the moment that I was directly in front of her, I swung a single kunai through the water towards straight between her eyes. As she began to dodge, I quickly used a classic shadow imitation jutsu to hold her exactly where I wanted her. The water weapons collapsed behind me just as the blade sunk into her chest. I felt that this girl had promise and would become a skilled shinobi someday, so I had decided to move her just at the right moment so that the kunai would slide between her ribs just beside her heart. She would live, but would not rise from her sick-bed for a week or so.

I released my jutsu and calmly walked away as her body collapsed into her own puddle, turning the clear liquid to a rich crimson. The shout of my victory echoed from the proctor's mouth, and cheers went up. I didn't care, I just wanted to find a good place to nap until the remaining matches were over.

I didn't bother to listen to the announcements before heading home. The next morning I found the white-haired jounin on my doorstep with several bowls of ramen.

"Congrats on your promotion!"

"Ya, sure. So, how soon can I test for jounin?"

"Did you listen at all? You already are one. The hokage was so impressed by your control of high level jutsus, judgment capacities, and overall skills that he elected for you to be promoted to full jounin. So, congrats!"

"Oh. That's cool, I guess." The only reasons I wanted to gain rank was to follow Mariah's requests and to do less pointless missions. There wasn't any ambitious reason for me to get all that excited. I did enjoy the ramen, though. The rest of that day, and the week, were relatively uneventful, with just the usual schedule of mugging and training.


	9. Birthday

Before I knew it, we had plunged into the depth of September. On the 11th morning, I woke as usual and went to the bathroom. While drying my face, I glimpsed an oddity about my right eye. The iris had changed from its normal forest green to a black abyss. The pupil was a blood red, and suddenly square-shaped, of all things. I did a double-take to get a better look, and was suddenly doubled over in extreme pain over my whole body. Not knowing what to make of it, I carefully covered it with some hair so as to avoid accidentally hurting someone before I knew how to control it.

When I went to find some breakfast, I noticed that the house was empty. Normally my mother was bustling about and my brother and father were somewhere enjoying a morning game of shogi or go. I walked outside in search of them, but they were nowhere in sight. Suddenly they all burst out shouting, "Surprise!"

"What's the occasion?"

Shikamaru responded, saying, "It's your birthday, baka." I looked at him, confused. I had never heard of someone celebrating their birth like this. "Wow, you're naive. C'mon, we'll show you how you're supposed to celebrate." They led me inside and sat me down at the kitchen table. Yoshino pulled out a platter of some fancy breakfast pastry and Shikaku pulled out a few gifts. I unwrapped them to find a single small, detailed hoop earring, a family heirloom from my mother, several Ichiraku ramen coupons from my father, and a choker with an onyx pendant with the kanji for deer etched into it from my brother. I managed a smile for them, but before I could be dismissed for the day, my mother beckoned me towards a back room. "These have been passed down through our family since before the clan's creation. Since your sixteenth birthday is the day that you officially become the heir of the head of the clan, we would like to give you these twin blades." My eyes widened as she opened their case. Two black tanto with crimson dragons dancing along their sides were carefully placed before me. My parents gauged my reaction. "They're called the Aizu Shintogo. Use them well." My father gently lifted a blade and placed it in my hand. I balanced it in a hand and felt its edge. Whatever their age, these were fine weapons.

I thanked them as well as I knew how and went out to see how well I could use them. These would require a substantial amount of training to master, but the commitment would be easy with these beauties.

After a few hours of training, I decided to find out how my eye worked. After a couple experiments on unsuspecting travelers, I discovered how it worked. If anyone were to look into my right eye, they would experience immense pain that would leave them essentially immobile for a few moments. I gave it the most fitting name I could think of: itaiboushi.

I then decided to use this excitement over birthdays to my advantage and sought out the white-haired jounin. After a bit of pestering, he agreed to teach me a new technique. After a couple of hours of learning to regulate the chakra, I managed to successfully produce a few kage bunshins. The day still was young, so I begged him to teach me more.

He handed me a chakra card, ordering me to channel some chakra into it. It first crinkled, then, after a few seconds, split in two. "So I suppose your primary element is lightning, and your secondary wind," he mused, "I suppose that explains you were able to produce a wind-style dragon during the final chuunin exam." After a moment he proposed to teach me his only original technique, but only after I had proven that I had the vision to match my speed for it. I knew my eyes could never match a sharingan user, but I fairly confident in them still. I provided a brief demonstration where i raced through the trees and flung a kunai at a moving target that he threw, hitting the target in the center. "All right, I'll teach you raikiri. Rest up for today; it will take a few hard, intense days of training for you to master this. We start at sunrise tomorrow."

I finished my birthday with my family enjoying a delicious home-cooked meal made by my mother.

I had managed to pick up some of the habits of my teacher, so I arrived at the training grounds around nine in the morning, mere moments before he himself showed up. Those three days may have been the most intense and physically trying I have ever experienced. I soon knew that not only would I gain an advanced new jutsu, but my other skills would all increase considerably after just the first hour of training.

Finally, on the third day, I was able to make four chidori in succession before collapsing to the ground. My teacher chose to treat me to Ichiraku's in celebration. After the delicious meal, I chose to stay behind awhile while the jounin left.

"So what's your excuse this time?" I turned to see Mariah's Uchiha friend glaring at me. I answered with a confused expression. "You missed another meeting."

"Oh, um, I might've killed the messengers again... I had to test out a new technique." He just sighed and handed me a small scrap of paper.

"Just be sure to be on time." He pushed himself up putting back on his hat and walked away. How did they get in the village? I read the note to meet in the mist village and headed home to prepare.

Upon arrival, I hunted down a ramen shop to see how it compared with the Leaf's. It was decent, but too salty.

I went to wait at the specified gates and soon saw them approach. On a spontaneous thought, I waited for them to get close enough and tested my itaiboushi on them. They both instantly collapsed from the pain, and I sped off, hoping to be able to avoid some pointless questions.

Somehow, only a couple of miles outside of the village, both Mariah and her boyfriend appeared before me. I only heard "Kawarmi" before I collapsed, awaking in the same room Mariah had first recruited me.


	10. First Encounters

"I'm telling you, we shouldn't've brought her here again. She's already seen too much, and that's just this room," the Uchiha boyfriend was saying.

"Quit taunting my disability for contractions. And _I_ am telling you that it is fine. She is already on her way to joining our top-most ranks, and there is no..."

I quietly crept out the window to the square below while they were still bickering. I saw three people on the opposite side, so I carefully hid where I could overhear their conversation.

Some guy in an orange mask shouted, "Aw! But Tobi's a good boy!" just as I came within hearing.

A man with orange hair and far too many piercings replied, "No. You know there's no chance until an opening is available. Why must you persist with this?"

A girl with a paper origami flower gently touched his arm, begging for them to leave already. The pair departed, leaving a dejected looking Tobi walking in the opposite direction. I began to walk casually out of the square once they were out of sight. Suddenly, someone poofed behind me. I instinctively reached for a tanto and swung it for the neck. The man managed to block the blade with his arm guard and exclaimed, "Nice instincts! It's a good thing you didn't' hear anything important. I'm Tobi! What's your name?"

I reluctantly replied, "Skai. Why?"

"No last name? Oh, I just wanted to talk! By the way, that wasn't a very good hiding spot."

"It fooled you comrades. And would you rather I hid under a brick?"

"I suppose you have a good point... So what are you doing here? Are you Itachi and Mariah's subordinate?"

"Why do you care... But, yes, I suppose I am."

"Oh, I'm just trying to make conversation! So what village are you from? Leaf, I suppose... I know! What rank are you?"

A small grin crept onto my face. I had still not lowered my blade either. "Why don't I just show you?" I flipped a kunai out of my pouch towards his stomach and sped off for the nearest shadow. If I made it there, I would no longer have to tolerate this annoying person's pestering questions. Before I could reach my escape, though, he poofed in front of me.

"Good thing I dodged that. That would've hurt! You should be more careful." I growled low in my throat and created a kuro kage kaze.

"Leave," I growled.

"Woah! This is cool! What else does it do?" Rather than obeying my order, he began spinning in circles, looking at the "cool" effects of my jutsu on the color tones of the square.

"Don't tell me you have a sharingan, too," I groaned. He suddenly came to a halt and turned towards me, lowering his voice.

"How did you know?"

"Oh never mind." And, releasing my jutsu, I ran off as fast as I could. I managed to turn a corner before the confusion of the release allowed him to see where I had gone. Quickly, I found Mariah's room and climbed through another window. Crashing down, interrupting there bicker, I begged, "Please! Get me out of here! I'll answer any questions I can, just get me out of here before he finds me!"

The Uchiha man turned to Mariah. "She met Tobi?" Mariah grinned and nodded in reply.

Turning to me, she said, "Alright, we have a deal. To Konoha's outskirts?" I frantically nodded, and she poofed us into the forest. She asked me some general questions until we reached the gates.

The next day I realized that, unlike many other jounin, I still didn't have a summon animal. I began to dig through some finals, researching the different possible animals. Toads, slugs, and snakes all seemed too...slimy. I thought about some bird of prey for a while, but being suspended up in the air seemed far to open and vulnerable. Anyone would be able to see me up there. I considered dogs, but they were far too tame, plus they would connect me with the white-haired jounin.

I finally found the perfect animal. No one had had it before. It was strong, graceful, and strongly connected to the night and moon. I would find and create a pact with the wolf clan.

After some research on the nature of wolves, I decided that their center-house would most likely be found in the forest of the fire country. I managed to find some reports on wolf-activity, and pinpointed a few places where I might find them. With map in tow and warning my parents that I would be gone for a few days, I set off in search. On my sixth try, on the second day, I found a rather mysterious cave. Upon entry, I found a petite woman peering at me over some reading glasses from behind an orderly desk.

"Name?" I stared in confusion. "What is your name? Or did you make an appointment at all? When will people learn! If you want an audience with the alpha wolf, you have to make an appointment. You can't just waltz in here and expect there to be an opening! He is a very busy ma- *ahem* person!"

She was glaring rather viciously now, so I tried to soothe her temper somewhat. I wanted this contract.

"Oh, I came to schedule an appointment personally. When is the next opening?" She was pleasantly surprised at my comment and began to rifle through a notebook.

"You came at the perfect time. If you make it quick, you can see him right now. He should be just down the tunnel, first opening on your right." I thanked her, still not understanding why there was a human secretary in the wolves' headquarters, especially seeing as no one had supposedly ever found the place.

The room I had been directed to held a massive wolf lounging in a hot spring with a smaller, feminine wolf. They both looked up surprised at my entry. I half-bowed and said, "Hello. My name is Skai Nara. I came to form a pact with your clan. Who might I be addressing?" I had read a book on formalities before coming. I really wanted this contract.

"My name is only for those who prove themselves worthy enough to summon me," he boomed, "What makes you think that you are worthy for such an honor?"

"No idea. I don't know what your requirements are, so how could I think that I follow them? I simply decided that I should form a pact with one of the summon clans, and the wolf seemed to me to be the best choice." The wolf actually seemed satisfied with my brief speech, and he threw me a grey scroll. I quickly signed my name in my blood and imprinted my fingerprints on the next open slot. Apparently the village's records were flawed – there were three signatures before mine. I tossed it back, bowed my head, and turned to leave. The she-wolf called after me, "may you always have a loyal pack, good prey, and a full moon." I inclined my head in respect and left. It was the strangest farewell I had ever heard, yet it made sense.


	11. Developments

On my way home, I ran into a little...complication. I was lazily strolling along the road when I spotted four people "hiding" in the trees wearing vivid blue bandannas. I was fairly bored, so when they dropped out of the trees, I ran screaming like a scared little girl. They quickly caught up to and surrounded me. I managed a pretty good scared-out-of-my-wits look when one stepped out and pronounced, "We're the blue-banded bandits!" There strange accent was so ridiculous that I had to smother a laugh. "Now hand over all yer money, or we'll kill yeh!"

This was just wrong – I didn't get mugged, I mugged others. I was by no means going to give them a single yen. I dropped my act, assuming my normal, relaxed stance. I simply answered, "No."

"What did you jist say teh me?" I just stared at him, silently conveying a challenge. "Get 'er boys!" All four bandits charged in, so I casually jumped up to a branch and swung myself onto the perch.

"Wow, you suck. Honestly, you give a bad name to us muggers." While I was critiquing them, the leader began to make some hand signs. The air itself began to tighten around me, so I quickly tried to do my kuro kage kaze before I was completely immobile. I was so close, but just barely too late with only one sign remaining.

"Now, li'l missy, yer gonna do jist as I say." He began insulting me as I tried with all my might to reach that last sign, to no avail.

Suddenly, a branch crashed down from the road, and I saw a flash of orange fleeing into the trees.

"Eh, must've been one of 'em squirrels." He turned his attention back to me, but it was too late for him. That momentary lapse in attention had given me just enough time to complete my technique, thus beginning his death. The black cloud poured into the road, sealing us in darkness. As soon as it had settled, I began my orders.

"Release your jutsu, and empty your bags in front of me." They clearly struggled to disobey, but it was hopeless. They were completely under my utter control. I was curious to see what had managed to cause the branch to fall, so I ordered it to come forward. Strangely, nothing obeyed. Even an inanimate object should have obeyed one of my direct orders. Unless it held a sharingan. So far, that was the only thing I had found that could disobey a kuro kage kaze. I doubted Mariah's Uchiha partner or my old jounin were stalking me, so I quickly ordered my adversaries' deaths, grabbed the desirable items, and fled. If it was Tobi, I did not want to talk.

Unfortunately, he actually had some speed, and he stalked me nearly all the way back to the village. I did not want him following me in, too, so I turned mid-step and charged straight for him. I slashed my tantos at his neck, his stomach, his hamstrings, anywhere that might at least slow him. Apparently he could also dodge well.

"Hey hey hey! What are you doing! You should be more grateful to the guy who just saved your life!"

I paused in my attack, putting a couple meters of space between us. "I would rather have died."

"Woah, masochistic much? Or do you actually hate me that much..." I silently glared, then turned to continue my walk home. He quickly caught up to me and fell in step. "Can I at least walk with you?"

"Doesn't seem like I can stop you." At least that shut him up for a few savorable moments.

"So, how are you?"

"I'm walking with you, what do you think?" He began to watch his feet, and his whole countenance became more and more sad. Finally, even I couldn't stand that much walking depression. "I'm fine. How are you." There. It was forced through gritted teeth, but it was said.

He brightened up immediately. "Great!" You could tell that he had a big stupid grin on his face, despite the mask, and it was actually kind of...cute. "Hey, do you want to race?" I was always up for a good challenge. I had already seen a sample of his speed, and I wanted to see if I could match it.

"Definitely." He counted down, and we set off at breakneck speeds. Despite my natural skill and years of training it, he easily overtook me. Soon, he was out of sight. When I found him again, he had just finished brewing a pot of tea.

I stared at him suspiciously. "How did you get so fast?"

He grinned up at me through his mask and replied, "Years of practice."

A thought struck me. "Just how many years?"

"Enough." How old was he? That kind of speed would've had to have literally years set aside just to tune it. I didn't press the issue, though. We actually sat comfortably sipping our tea. We kept mostly to small talk, but it was good, and strangely not annoying. Sadly, the moment had to end. I handed him the empty teacup as he stood to leave. Before leaving myself, I watched him dart into the distance.

Over the next couple of weeks, I practiced kuchiyose no jutsu until I could summon the alpha wolf. Having completed this task, I received the honor of learning his name: Ookami-sousui. I wrote it down, thinking that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to forget it next time I saw him.


	12. The Silent Year

The next year was a pale excuse next to the ones before or after. Absolutely nothing of real interest happened beyond basic missions, occasional reports for Mariah, and the usual muggings. Finally, a relatively more interesting day came. My little brother graduated from the academy and passed his test to become a genin, so in celebration, my family threw his entire team a party.

His team was interesting, to say the least. It contained an unusually fat kid, a sickly thin blonde, and a skinny, incredibly hyper boy who somehow looked similar to the fat kid. Naturally, since I usually avoid as much human interaction as possible, I stayed in my room until dinner. My mom did make the best food around, though, so I came out when it was ready.

Upon entering the dining room, the skinny kid greeted me, "Hi! What's your name?" I had just woken up from a day-long nap, so I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone like him. I just growled at him in response.

"Ooo, are you, like, a super awesome ninja?" he shouted. I raised an eyebrow before returning to my meal. "You should teach us something! Like, like, genjutsu!" The other eyebrow went up. I was overall a fairly well-rounded ninja, but of all the possible skills, I failed at genjutsu. Anyone with barely more than basic knowledge could very probably capture me with me helpless. I have always been extremely cautious with them, often using an all-out assault to avoid a genjutsu user.

"No."

"Aw... Why not?" Since I had just finished my plate, I got up and began to walk away. He followed me, whining for me to teach him something cool. My brother, having learned a bit about me over the past years, ran to stop him. He tried to encourage him to stop pestering me, but the moron pressed on.

At last, he had followed me well into the deer-inhabited forest. My brother had given up on his teammate a couple miles back. Something the reader should know about the family's deer: they're demonically evil. For some reason, they'll only tolerate a Nara. All others are fair game, and I'm not entirely sure that the deer are herbivores. I knew that they had been trailing us for a while, so, in approximately the center of the enclosure, I turned to my "student".

I quickly grabbed his neck, slamming him into the nearest tree. My other fist flew into his gut. With his eyes bulging, I swung him into another tree head first. He began to struggle to stand, but I swiftly kicked him into yet another tree. He was now gasping on the ground. I crouched over him, and calmly whispered in his ear, "I hope you enjoyed your lesson."

As I walked off, I heard the crashes of the deer attacking. My brother passed me on my way home. I suppose he had to save him... Eh, he still wouldn't be out of the hospital for several weeks. Unfortunately, I later learned that the child had not learned his lesson. He would pay for his failure someday.

A week later, I decided that it was time that I should teach my little brother something. Unlike most other people, I actually cared for him, so I wanted to improve him on his way to becoming a powerful ninja. I decided upon the true shadow bind jutsu. Like a true Nara, he learned impressively quickly.

A few months later Shikamaru was the only genin to officially pass the chuunin exams. I expected nothing less from my little brother. Later that week, I came upon Mariah's blue-haired sister's snake-eyed friend. She was crying in a puddle on the side of a side street for no apparent reason. My curiosity overtook me, so I went over to find out why.

"Hey...you. What's up?"

She glared up at me. "Shouldn't you know? It's your brother who failed to bring her back."

"Bring who back?"

"Naoki!"

"Who?

"My best friend! And YOUR brother didn't bring her back! And Sasuke." Oh, so that was why Shikamaru was in the hospital... I had been wondering what had happened there.

"Oh. Well, good luck getting her back. Though I suppose that's fairly unlikely... If I remember correctly, her and the Uchiha boy were relatively skilled, so if they wanted to leave, there's not much that could bring them back. I can understand why they left. Honestly, this place sucks. We're given these pointless missions, forced to live in a confining city even though there's hundreds of acres of perfectly good land right outside the wall. And the wages are horrible. If it weren't for my...other source of income, I'd be scrambling for every yen I could find. The people here are rather unfriendly and judgmental. I wouldn't say that I'm exactly friendly, but at least I don't judge each person's worth to live. Anyway, I don't have much choice, but why would anyone choose to stay here? No wonder they left."

"Well you're encouraging. I feel so hopeful on getting my best friend back now."

"Oh, what? Who are you again?"

"Araya! Agh! Forget it! I'll go train to defy you or something!" I had honestly forgotten that she was there during my rant, so I just shrugged and walked off.


	13. A Love Story

Two years later, I was wandering around the countryside when someone poofed behind me. I casually turned to face the person.

"Wow, last time I did that, you tried to kill me. Are you losing your touch?" I now recognized Tobi.

"Argh! Not you again!" I began to tree-hop away. I should've expected him to catch up. He stopped me.

"Hey, where are you going? You don't hate me that much, do you?"

"Yes, I do! Now get out of my sight!" He began to shrivel in sadness before my very eyes.

"If you hate me that much, why don't you just kill me."

"Not worth my time."

"So you don't think I have any skill..." He shriveled more until he was just a ball of sadness on the dirty road. I began to walk away, but something stopped me. With a heavy sigh, I turned back to him.

"I never said that."

"But you implied it..." He melted more. I couldn't stand it much longer.

"I'm sorry." His ability to change his mood that quickly still amazes me. He sprung out from the ground all happy again.

"Tobi forgives Skai! We should go get ramen!" The suggestion startled me, but I was always up for a good bowl of Ichiraku's, especially when it was free. We both ordered a couple bowls, and slurped away contentedly. Suddenly, he came up with another random suggestion, "Wanna go mugging?" I turned towards him with suspicion.

"Have you been stalking me?" How else could he know that I liked ramen and mugging. Besides, I didn't exactly just announce to the world my hobby.

"Of course not! You just seem like a fellow mugger. I'll split the profits fifty-fifty."

"Forty-sixty." He agreed with a sigh, and we planned to meet at the gates the next day. We then went our separate ways.

Having slept well, I decided to show him what my jutsu was supposed to do the day we first met. The ominous black cloud swept over the first nin we found. I briefly instructed them to perform some cartwheels.

"Wait, didn't you try to use that on me? Why didn't it work?"

"Your sharingan. It makes you immune. I don't know why."

"Hey, we should try and figure it out! I'll keep your secret, don't worry!" I didn't exactly trust him, but I didn't see when I could get another opportunity like this to learn this. I ordered the nin to die, took their possessions, and agreed. He figured that the other Akatsuki members would be some of the best test subjects, so we headed towards the Rain. I was able to better observe Tobi's skill as we mugged on the way there, and I was impressed. He was quite definitely the most skilled shinobi I had ever seen. There was something about his style that spoke of many secrets yet. It was obviously an ancient art, but one I had never seen in my time.

Tobi had evidently had some practice on sneaking up on is team members. I managed to use my technique on most of them, and we soon learned it's secret: any high centers of chakra would render my ability useless on them. Many of the Akatsuki members who had high chakra capacities were merely bewildered by the sudden darkness, though I was able to capture a few of the otherwise skilled members. Tobi gave them paint mustaches.

For the next year, we continued to spend time together. Between the mugging, ramen eating, random vacations, and just hanging out, I came to care for him as a friend. I found that he was far more mature than he originally came across. Y He was the only person I actually enjoyed being around. The year was spent with him and relatively few missions – an incredible time.

It had to end, though. Akatsuki was becoming more active and called him back, so I was left in Konoha friendless once again. To fill the time, I applied for some S-class missions. Unlike all my previous missions, these were a challenge, so I wasn't left with much time to just sit and muse. Despite this, I found myself missing Tobi. A longing pain grew in my chest with each passing day. It baffled me, having never experienced it before, but I knew that having Tobi back would ease it.

The village heads had begun to take notice of my skill and success with missions. They decided to send me on a very important mission: to locate and capture or kill two Akatsuki members that had been reported in the land of Lightning. I would have simply taken a vacation for a few days and reported back that they had already left, but they sent two decent jounin with me.

We successfully located the reported pair – they were Tobi and the black and white plant. The fight commenced, and the two Akatsuki split us, with the other two jounin fighting Tobi's partner, and me facing him alone. I originally assumed that we were simply going to stage a fight while my teammates were slaughtered, but Tobi didn't seem to have heard the memo. I began to anger, and I went all out. I soon lost track of my teammates fatal match as I fought for my life. I glanced back towards them, seeing the plant man devouring their dead bodies, yet Tobi fought on. I retreated into the forest to avoid being overwhelmed and prepared a wind dragon. He poofed behind me, and I turned to lash out with the dragon coiled around my fist. Just before I struck, he ducked down and began to pull out something from his cloak. I readied myself against whatever it was.

Instead of an exploding tag or a summoning scroll, Tobi pulled out a small dark scarlet box. Before I could strike, he opened it, revealing a delicate onyx band embedded with a jade stone.

"Skai Nara, will you marry me?" I began to sway with shock. He quickly caught me, and I began to reflect as I regained clear thought. I realized what that longing pain had been – love. As unlikely as it was for me to love someone, I knew that I could and would never love anyone more than he.

"Yes." He leaned to embrace me. For the first time in my life, I hugged back.

Mid-hug, I realized a minor detail: I didn't even know what he looked like. The knowledge would not change what I thought of him, of course. I just figured that I should probably know. So, I asked.

"Does this mean I get to find out what you look like under the mask?" He chuckled and invited me to discuss it over a bowl of ramen. Fortunately, he has the ability to warp time and space, thus poof us back to Konoha rather than take two days to travel there. Very convenient. We ordered a few bowls to go, and took them to the forest for a picnic in privacy.

Tobi then took of his mask. His face was mature and weathered, yet far from old. I peered into the depths of his black eyes, and decided that I quite liked his face. He then spoke, "My true name is Uchiha Madara, founder of the Uchiha clan."

"Shouldn't you be dead? Or are you immortal..."

"Sorta. Mostly I just am able to warp the spacial-temporal vortex within my own body."

Tobi, or Madara? Eh, I'll stick with Tobi. Anyway, Tobi, in his sporadic way, asked, "So how are you going to explain to people about the ring?"

"Oh, the usual. Ignore them, and knock them out if they persist to much." We continued to comfortably chat the night away. Finally, dawn came and we were forced to go our separate ways. Before heading back, I asked, "When will I see you next?"

"Soon. Mariah and Itachi should will probably be wanting a meeting here soon." He gently kissed me goodbye, and I turned back towards the village with a small smile on my lips. I quickly gave my report to the village heads before I turned to leave. One stopped me before I could, though, saying that the Godaime had summoned me. I grudgingly made my way up the stairs and knocked on the door.


	14. Genin

"Enter! Oh, there you are. Back already? Anyway, I have an assignment for you. You are to become the sensei for a team of genin."

"What? Why?"

"We've decided that you spend too much time on solitary missions and you might have something to offer to the next generation of shinobi."

"But, they're genin. Most of them won't even make a decent chuunin, let alone have any real potential. They're mainly just a waste of time!"

"But we need to train them all to reach their maximum potential, so that those who do have some skill will be able to go all the way."

"They shouldn't need a jounin for that! If they're have any decent potential, then they should be able to reach it on their own! Look at me: did I need someone to hold my hand and lead me towards mastery of my skills? No! They shouldn't either!"

"Argue all you want, but you're still getting a team. I'd suggest that you stop complaining and start thinking of a good test to ensure that they can be shinobi. They're names are Daiki, Hiroshi, and Kasumi. These papers should give you good background. Dismissed." I stalked out of the room and began silently plotting my revenge.

I met my new subordinates the following morning at the academy. A small, blue-eyed, brown-haired boy; a girl with normal dark hair and eyes, and otherwise rather normal features; and a taller boy with light brown hair and grey eyes composed my team. I briefly introduced myself and gave them a sheet of paper with the meeting time and place scrawled on it with some instructions to not eat breakfast.

The following morning, I arrived at a training ground an hour before the designated time with three boxes of ramen-to-go and waited. The girl arrived first, and, as the unsociable person I am, I simply stared at her blankly until the taller boy arrived. My attention was then shifted to him until the last, small boy arrived. Late.

Rather than bother with a glaring match, I ordered them to each introduce themselves. The late boy had the stupidity to ask why. "Failure to fulfill my commands could result in...unpleasant consequences." I bared my teeth in a half-smile. The girl, noticing potential unnecessary violence, quickly followed my order.

"My name is Kasumi. I like...um...hm. Rice and noodles with different toppings is good, I guess. I enjoy...doing various things. My goals in life? Haven't thought much on them... Was that what you wanted?

"Sure. Do you have any real opinions on anything? Anyway, you. You're next," I said pointing at the taller boy.

"Hey babe. The name's Daiki." Having a genin hit on me would not do. I threw a kunai at his forehead with a string attached to it. "Now what were you saying?"

He jumped back in fear. "Um, I'm Daiki, I good at sports, I like girls, and I hate sissies!" he rushed.

"You like girls? And you're what, eleven? Wow." "I'm thirteen!" he indignantly huffed. "Whatever. Late kid, you're next."

"I'm Hiroshi. I like stuff. I like to do stuff. And I don't like you," he stated with a smirk. With a smirk. I don't like smirks. And this rich little prick had the audacity to think himself better enough to smirk at me. My eyes narrowed, then I launched towards him grabbing a fistful of his shirt. "Who do you think you are?" I whispered in his ear. His eyes widened and his voice caught in his throat. I set him down and turned back to my seat with the simple parting words, "Smirking is bad for your health."

As I sat down, I began to deliver their test. The objective was simple: take one of three ramen boxes from the rock behind me. They had until sundown. No, I didn't care what their means where – they shouldn't worry about holding back; the idea of actually dealing me a blow was laughable. I dug out a picture book I found on my there and sat back to enjoy the day.

The girl and tall boy seemed to have at least a semblance of intelligence, since they immediately ran for cover amidst the trees. The smirker just smiled and began sauntering towards me. Once before me, he sneered and reached for a box. I couldn't believe this kid's complete lack of common sense. How did this moron pass even as simple a test as the genin exam? Ah, he would learn. A simple wire quickly wrapped around his wrist and tightened to the point of drawing blood stopped him easily. He stupidly freaked out and tried to pull his hand away, but succeeded in only burrowing the wire under his skin, thus pulling a bit off. Quite a gruesome site for a young, innocent genin. Since I was, after all, his sensei, I gave him his first lesson: "First see what you're up against before you charge in blindly. Never underestimate the enemy." I released the wire and wiped off the blood as he ran screaming into the trees.

"Girl, you might want to see to that." She was the closest, and I certainly didn't want to deal with a screaming genin. I picked up my picture book, and began to enjoy the story. The jock decided to have a go, and tried to sneak up behind me. I let him get fairly close before I closed my book and hand-sprung off the the rock to his side. The down kick easily dragged him to the ground. He scrambled back to his feet and threw a few shuriken at me. I tilted my head away from them, then continued my advance. He held a kunai towards me.

"Tch, now that will just not do." I picked up a stick, and whacked first his knees, then feet, elbows, shoulders, etc. "If you're going to hold a weapon, at least hold it properly." While I was busy correcting her teammate's stance, the girl had crept towards the ramen rock. I glanced towards her and threw my stick directly towards her forehead.

She barely managed to dodge, but that was still better than I had expected. She drew several shuriken and threw them at several points on my body – another bonus. I jumped into the air before they could touch me, and sent a single kunai to pin her sandal to the ground. An idea sparked, and I grabbed the three ramen boxes and fled to the trees. Now it should really get interesting. I heard some groans and arguments as I began to hide the boxes around the training ground. I decided to return to the rock to see if they had begun working together, or were still bickering.

Sure enough, all three genin had formed a little pow-wow circle. The smirker and the jock seemed to be arguing over who should lead more than determining a proper way to earn their headbands. The girl just sat there rolling her eyes.

I strolled out into the open, and gave them another lesson, "Arguing gets you nowhere. If you have issues with a teammate, it's often best to choose the third member as leader. If they're smart enough to stay out of the petty inter-team politics, that person is probably also smart enough to properly lead a team. Either way, you're still wasting daylight. Aren't you hungry?"

They glanced at each other, nodded, and charged me. Three genin. I was so scared. I dipped into a fighting stance, flipped the first over my shoulder, knocked the second's legs out from under him, grabbed his ankles, and used his body to knock the third down. "Try again." I went back to my picture book.

The girl spoke up, saying, "We can either waste our time trying to find the boxes, or we can get the information from her. She probably won't just tell us, and we obviously can't beat her using simple tactics, so what do we do?"

"You could ask. Non-violent methods, however boring, are often the most fruitful methods." So, they asked. I pointed towards one box and followed them until they found it. Now to really mess with them. I created a clone who transformed into the girl and then used a replacement jutsu on her. I tied up the original and hid her somewhere on the grounds. Now to see when they would figure it out. To make things a bit more interesting, I hid a map of the other two ramen with the girl.

I simply slipped from shadow to shadow to watch their progress. It took them another three hours to notice the clone's irregularities. It took another two hours for the boys to actually work together, realize that the clone was leading them in circles, and test it. A good punch in the back made the clone poof away, further confusing the genin.

The smirker's stomach began to grumble, and the jock looked longingly at their single ramen box. The smirker dove for it, while the taller boy hung on for dear life. A tug-of-war ensued and continued until the box broke and split its contents across the forest floor.

"Now look what you did!" the smirker exclaimed, "Now one of us can't graduate!"

"Well, it's not gonna be me! I actually deserve this! Unlike someone else I know." The banter would have continued, but a distant scream pierced the air. I supposed that the girl had wriggled her gag out. "That must be Kasumi! Come on! Let's go!"

I saw that the sun was nearing the horizon and decided that I would let them find their teammate and the key to their success. Soon, I saw three triumphant genin skip into the clearing where I was enjoying my picture book. "Congratulations, you pass," I stated. The genin began to cheer. "But." The cheering died down. "Since you two failed to carry a simple box lunch safely back, or rather destroyed it, neither of you may eat anything. The girl gets one, and I get the other." The boys protested loudly while the girl just stuck her tongue out at them and enjoyed her reward.

I left them with the command to meet here again the next day.


	15. Teams and Other Engagements

The following morning, I wheedled a few missions out of Tsunade after some complaints on my team's lack of worth. I found the genin at the training grounds and dumped the mission scrolls in front of them. "Pick one and go do it. I expect you to be back with your payment by evening."

The smirker immediately began grumbling, but the girl quickly quieted him while ushering for the jock to choose. I had apparently underestimated the low quality of the missions. As I was watching the clouds daydreaming about mugging with Tobi, the genin came back picking dirt out of their fingernails. "Who hired ninja to pick weeds?" the jock was complaining. "Oh, shut up Daiki. You know just as well as m e that we have to do these before we can be skilled enough to do the better missions," the girl returned. The smirker snorted. "But Kasumi, we're good enough to have any ranked mission thrown at us! SHE just won't give us any!" he pointedly accused me.

I lazily sat up and gestured at the stack of scrolls. "The sooner you get through these, the sooner you can see some real missions. Oh, and..." I flashed towards them, holding the boys up by the scruff of their necks. "Don't question your superiors," I growled. By then the girl had picked up another mission scroll, so I released them to finish another 'mission.'

A week of the same routine saw them through the entire pile. I supposed that I should actually train them... I started with taijutsu – if they can't control their physical bodies well, there's no way they could properly control chakra for ninjutsu. I didn't much like the academy's style, so I began with the very basics of punches and kicks. They were at least able to master those within a day, so we quickly moved on to dodges, combinations, and the complex maneuvers of real combat. I quickly saw the basic talents of my three genin in this area – the jock easily had the most potential, mastering every technique twice as fast as his teammates. The girl, Kasumi?, wasn't anything spectacular, but she would always be able to hold her own. The smirker was the weakest. Hopefully he would excel more in chakra manipulation.

Naturally, I didn't spend all my time sitting around staring at their failed attempts to accomplish a basic move. I would often set out on my many mugging excursions after giving them something to work on until I get back. Hey, the worst that could happen while I was gone would be for them to die, and I wouldn't mind that.

One day, after all three had mastered a chuunin-level taijutsu technique, I took them out for ramen. Once they had left for home, I turned to the familiar cloaked figure beside me. He faced me surprised, saying, "They gave _you_ a team of genin? Are they running short, or what?" I just glared at him until he changed the topic. "Anyway, you missed yet another meeting. What happened this time?"

"Who'd you send?"

"A few jounin-level rouges. Oh, come on, you killed them again? We were hoping jounins might actually get you the message before you killed them off." I shrugged. "Anyway, be at this time and place. Mariah wants to see you."

The next day, I began my genin's chakra training and told them I would be leaving for a week or two. After giving them a few easy missions and several exercises to work on, I packed and headed for the rain village. I picked up a few yen while granting some deaths along the way.

The gates quickly came into sight with Tobi perched atop one of their towers. I ran to embrace him, and we walked hand-in-hand into the village. He lead me to the Akatsuki's main living complex where I had first met him and pointed out his home. I explored the three story town home briefly to find that it matched Mariah's for size, but was far less expensively furnished.

I walked back outside to find Mariah and Itachi, where they were having a...deeply involved conversation. Something caught my eye before I looked away. Mariah had a large sapphire on her left ring finger. I spoke up, "Wow, Itachi, took you long enough." He glanced up from the kiss to raise a questioning eyebrow at me. "You're finally engaged?" Tobi decided to walk out of his home at this time and drape an arm across my shoulders. Mariah had looked up to see what was keeping Itachi, and saw my ring.

"Wait, you two?" she spluttered. "But, you are opposites! How did that work?"

"You do know how old he is, right? And how did you remember my name..." Itachi said.

"Of course I do! I'm not an idiot. And I really have no idea..."

"Despite this interesting revelation, I still called you here for your report. Come inside and tell me what you have learned," Mariah commanded. As usual, I had nothing decent to give her. I never did make a good spy.

Once the questions were done, I found Tobi, and we began to discuss wedding plans. Obviously, it would be small, so as to not draw attention. White was such a horrible color in my mind that I chose a dark scarlet and black dress. I could barely believe I was going to wear a dress... I would have the skirts divided just in case. Since I wasn't very picky, we quickly were able to decide upon a cake, a guest list, and a location. The only real issue was a date. Fortunately, we had an entire week to decide on it. Between all the cuddling, the mugging, and enjoying time together, we decided that a month-long vacation in winter would be the perfect time.

Finally, it was time for my return.


	16. Dealing with Genin

The following day I called my genin to see their progress on chakra. The tall boy struggled greatly with it; he couldn't perform anything much more advanced than a replacement. The girl had potential, though it obviously needed some work. The smirker excelled above the others for the moment. Soon, he would reach his mere average potential, and the girl would surely surpass him.

I began their supervised exercises with the tree climbing. I would dismiss any of them until they had reached a certain mark. The next day, I would double the height. And the next, and the next... until finally their chakra control was as perfect as they could possibly manage. I quickly moved them on to water-walking. Once they had mastered the technique, I gave each of them a personalized jutsu list with the order to master each in the order written. With this, I could spend more time training.

Despite my initial impression of their worthlessness, all three of the genin improved vastly. After spending that much time with them, I actually came to know their names. Kasumi gradually passed the boys on all levels but brute strength. Daiki's ability in taijutsu only increased, and his ninjutsu skill began to show some potential. Hiroshi's chakra control made him a promising genjutsu user, but he continued to be the greatest disappointment on the team. One day, I decided to get to the bottom of his failure.

To make up for the lack of focus on physical skill, I made the genin do sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and enough laps around the village to impress even youth fanatics. Each evening they would leave bone-weary, and each morning return without a sore muscle in their body.

On the third day, Hiroshi came with a note from his mother politely asking me to lessen the training. I ripped it up and ordered him to run extra laps. Each day, the letters became more potent, until they became an outright demand with implied threats. Hiroshi smirked handing the letter to me, but instead of reminding him of the idiocy of such an expression, I commanded him to organize a picnic for him, his mother, and I, so that we could discuss his training.

I allowed the genin a break from their training for the picnic day and found Hiroshi's house. Well, mansion. After a butler lead me to the mother and son, we headed out to the forest. At the destination, we spread out the blankets, and I drew Hiroshi aside to go catch some fish. I discreetly formed three shadow clones who used simple henges to look like a normal group of rogue chuunin.

By the time the genin and I had returned with our fish, his mother was missing, and there were apparent signs of struggle. I convinced Hiroshi to stay behind while I went to 'rescue' her.

I easily found the designated cave where I enjoyed several moments of her pleasurable torture. Many ninjas think genjutsu is the best way to convince your prisoner to answer your interrogations, but I remain a strong believer of a good act and a couple well-placed usages of the knife. The woman, still clinging to her strong faith in wealth, was soon begging at my knees. After destroying her last traces of hope, I gently slid a knife into her throat.

I brought her body to her son, showing my 'disappointment' of having arrived just too late. I explained that I had already exacted the necessary revenge by destroying her abductors. Technically, this was true, since I released my clones.

The days following Hiroshi's return quickly revealed that I had made the correct choice. He attacked his lessons with a new vigor, and began to slowly catch up with his teammates. I new that he could never be either of their equals, especially Kasumi, but I was glad to see that he would at least make chuunin. After all, the sooner they were chuunin, the sooner I could be rid of the whole lot of them.

A few weeks later, I signed up my team for the exam that would hopefully release me from them forever. I doubled their training, forcing them to push themselves to the very limit. By the time the actual exams had arrived, even I deemed them worthy to be at least called ninja, if only just barely.

The first exam passed quickly, and I was annoyed to find that they still had an entire week until the next exam. Rather than push them so hard, I only maintained basic training while encouraging them to rest up and brush up on their survival. When the day arrived, I found a corner and laid back with a three-days supply of instant ramen and picture books. I was surprised to be summoned on the second day, but annoyed to find that my team had gathered only the bare minimum of scrolls.

"Really, it would have been far more strategic to gather more to eliminate future opponents. This will be just that many more you'll need to fight through to gain chuunin status. It seems no matter how much I pound into your heads, you never seem to learn your lessons. So disappointing..." Of course, by now my team was used to this kind of treatment, recognizing that I was that way to just about everyone. Kasumi spoke up and reminded me that I was supposed to explain some wall hanging behind me.

"Right, that. Um, balance. Yup. See you later." With that, I poofed away from their baffled faces with a wind-style replacement. Well, that didn't really matter. At least I had a month to relax away from them. I could go mugging, see Tobi, work on some new techniques... This would be quite a pleasant month.

Kasumi obliterated my plans when she asked for special training during that month. Well, at least it was neither of the boys. Since I was able to focus all my attention on just her, I could improve her training far above the level given to the entire team. Really, I didn't understand this strange team concept. It's far more difficult to hide a whole team. The lesser members always hold the better's back. One person can easily go where a team is easily forbidden. In a battle, you must protect your teammate while trying to defeat the enemy, splitting your focus. It was so much more advantageous for nin to remain alone, rather than group in teams.

My favored genin proved my philosophy correct with her quick improvement. Even I began to consider her worthy of chuunin status. The month ended and battles for the coveted title began. I bored by the relative lack of skill and just waited for the results. As I expected, Kasumi made chuunin, along with two others. I was unhappy to hear that those two others did not include Daiki or Hiroshi. I returned home, plotting my punishment for their failures.


	17. A Chance Encounter

After the boys' three weeks of punishment, winter finally arrived. I gave the team a day's notice of my month-long departure, and nearly skipped down the road to the rain village the next morning.

Despite my unusual giddiness, I still maintained proper traveling precautions. About midway through my journey, I encountered a pair that seemed vaguely familiar. Somehow, I remembered the blue-haired girl and the boy showing off his chest, I just couldn't put my finger on them. Finally, I jumped down in front of them and demanded, "Who _are _you?"

The boy had drawn his sword and the girl had taken a ready stance. They had good reflexes. Suddenly, the girl dropped her guard. "Skai? Is that you?"

" Yes, yes, but who are _you_?"

"C'mon, I haven't been away from the village that long... It's me, Naoki! And Sasuke! How've you been?"

I muttered a neutral reply as I tried to place those names... That was it! "Oh! Now I remember! You're Mariah's blue-haired little sister!" I turned to Sasuke. "And you're Mariah's Uchiha boyfriend's little brother who's Mariah's blue-haired little sister's boyfriend! Wait, you left the village?"

Oddly ticked, Naoki responded, "Yes, we left the village. Almost three years ago, now. And why am I associated with Mariah? Why does everyone associate me with her? Why can't I be my own person?" Some black mark on her neck was beginning to vibrate. Sasuke was either staying out of it, or he was just dazed from my long description of how I referred to him.

"Woah, that's just how I remember you. And what's with the butt-bows?"

The black mark exploded across her body, and she rushed at me with a chidori in hand. It seemed that this already jubilant day was about to get even better. Harnessing my confusion, joy, and any other extraneous emotions, I created a chidori of my own. A collision of lightning chakra would barely scratch us both, since we were both lightning type.

Sure enough, the two chidoris radiated lightning in all directions. Itachi's little brother quickly sought shelter, evidently thinking the girl could handle herself. Men always underestimated me.

I quickly used a wind style replacement jutsu and, calculating that lightning style techniques would be virtually useless, I performed a simple shadow imitation jutsu to fasten her in place. She saw it coming and jumped away before I caught her shadow, but I had already begun to use my speeding black shot paralysis. Bullets of chakra cloaked with my own shadow had been shot to intersect her path where I predicted her to jump, hit certain pressure points, and paralyze her. I had been just a few degrees off, but just enough that she was not left completely immobile.

Despite my obvious display, the blue-haired girl was apparently too angry to realize that lightning style jutsus would have relatively little harm on me, especially considering I was also wind-type. She shouted "Kuwashii Chidori," and lightning sprouted out of the ground in a wide field around her. I dodged around the major blasts while sliding my tanto out of their holsters on my back. I soon came in distance of her, and began a the medium-grade deadly dance of taijutsu. She seemed baffled and frustrated that I had so easily avoided such a major attack.

As soon as she released her jutsu to focus more on deflecting my attacks, I fled to the shadows of the surrounding forest. She blew fireballs after me to try to find me. The fire would be a disadvantage to my wind techniques, but no matter. I easily danced around the fiery light and several other flashy jutsus she wildly flung into the forest. These silly Konoha ninjas and their lack of understanding of how ninjas are supposed to be discreet and subtle. Everything I had seen from her and many of her former comrades were anything but. I produced a few kage bunshin amongst the trees. We rapidly swept up to her, dancing among the flickering shadows she herself created with her flashy jutsus. With her vision obscured by the blurs of light and her hearing deafened by the roars of the flames, she didn't notice us until we had trapped her among a web of blades. She froze and began to gradually slow her breathing. I let one of my clones speak to hide myself.

"We really don't need to fight. I don't really want to kill you, and you can't kill me, so why don't we just go back to casual conversation?" She had calmed enough to nod, and I released my clones and sheathed my blades. "So, you finally realized how worthless and ridiculous Konoha is?"

The blue-haired girl laughed and beckoned to the Uchiha boy. "I wouldn't say that. They are one of the great hidden villages, after all. I simply realized that my ideals conflicted with theirs, and sought elsewhere to grow. Where are you headed, anyway? A mission?"

"I can't tell you that, but it's not a mission. I suppose I should get going, though... I'll see you later, I guess."

"Leaving already? But you just got here..." I was already walking down the road, though. All she could do was stare after me baffled. I sprinted the rest of my journey to arrive and satiate my expectant joy as quickly as possible.


	18. Joyous Vows

The weather was particularly dreary, even for the rain village, which was absolutely perfect for the occasion. Rather than my usual greeting of a Tobi glomp, Mariah met me at the gates. She explained that the groom wasn't aloud to see the bride before the wedding, and whisked me off to pick up my dress and begin the final preparations for the evening's occasion. I was surprised at Mariah's courtesy. Maybe being the maid of honor and the only bridesmaid was getting to her.

Even the cake survived amongst all the chaos (the middle section was poisoned for any uninvited guests), and I quickly found myself carefully stepping down the moonlit carpet with a small smile. The priest frowned slightly at the kunai and shuriken ridden moonflower bouquet, but quickly brightened to begin the ceremony. After a blessedly short speech, Tobi and I exchanged vows and rings. I swore to never abandon him though the world might be against him, and love him through all as I slid a wide silver band onto his finger. He in turn vowed to offer protection in all circumstances and, even if he could offer nothing else, to always shelter me with his love. The priest pronounced us man and wife, and Tobi removed his mask to kiss the rare smile on my lips.

We dashed back down the carpet to the buggy that would take us to our reception. It was really only a block away, but Mariah had had a help in the organizing, and she does love the flashy and showy... The reception was outside under an open tent lit only by the occasional firefly and mirrors reflecting the moon's rays. First we cut the cake. I jokingly offered my new husband a piece of the middle layer, and quickly snatched it away when he almost ate it. I was pretty sure I had given everyone invited the memo about the poison...

Soon after a brief cake fight, we were spinning across the dance floor. It was my first time, but I found that it was very similar to advanced taijutsu and just followed Tobi's lead. He had me spinning around him, above him, under him, and in such complex patterns that even I found it difficult to keep track.

Finally, we sat down out of breath and chatted with our guests. Mariah and Itachi were busy in one corner enjoying the romantic mood and planning their wedding. Several of the Akatsuki members kept going back for more cake until only the middle layer remained. Well, most of it. Wait, most of it? I glanced around for the body writhing on the floor, but found none. Eh, I would find out later.

Deidara, one of the Akatsuki members I had only recently met, came over and clapped a hand on Tobi's back. "Man, I never expected you to find a girl, un! Especially not a hottie like this one, un." He winked at me. I stared coldly back until he gave a brief congratulatory farewell. After some murder-obsessed freak came by and begged to train up our future children in the ways of Jashin and was coldly shut down, we returned to the dance floor.

We were able to enjoy a couple slow dances before the tempo was sped up again. Somehow, Tobi was able to make even those far more intricate than one would expect from a simple box step. We began to pass each other off to other partners, but somehow we always came back together.

We stumbled back to our seats to find another small party. Hidan had somehow managed to get a few drinks down Mariah, and most everyone was cheering on the show. Mariah was performing a wild can-can dance on top of the bridal party's table while simultaneously juggling eight champagne bottles.

A blue-skinned Akatsuki member was wandering by pouring every glass of water he could find over his head when all eight champagne bottles simultaneously exploded. The corks flew towards the fish dude and knocked him to the floor. Konan, being the only person present with any bit of compassion for him, quickly checked on him and had him lifted back to his house.

After a short silence, the party picked back up to its original tempo. Deidara had gotten a bit tipsy, also, and was deep in conversation with Mariah about the brief moments of true art. Soon, he was demonstrating. The dimly lit room periodically flashed with the brilliant light of his art. Mariah was enthusiastically cheering him on, and soon random tables were engulfed in flame. I followed my husband's example in ignoring the random spontaneous destruction. Someone who hadn't just gotten married could deal with it. One Akatsuki member was particularly distressed by the fires. I couldn't remember his name, naturally, but he was near weeping over the imminent expenses that would have to be paid. I would find a way to redeem him later.

Between all my whirling about and basking in the joy of the occasion, I noticed an odd child around. He wore an Akatsuki cloak, but I had never seen him with any of the other random members I had seen before. And surely a child would have taken a large helping of the remaining cake, not knowing its true purpose... How odd.

The blue-haired woman quickly returned and whispered something to the leader. He beckoned Tobi over, and our moment of bliss was briefly broken. I listened in, and apparently Kisame, the blue man, had eaten the poison cake. Along with being hit quite forcefully in the head by champagne corks, he seemed to have all memory of humanity knocked out of him. While they were deliberating on what to do with their new dilemma, I spoke up. "Hey, I heard about a new exhibition down in the Land of Waves that displays sea creatures. I'd bet that they would pay quite handsomely for a new breed."

Both men easily caught my drift. After another brief discussion, they decided that they would take these actions if the blue man showed no signs of improvement within a week. As soon as it was settled, I pulled Tobi back to the dance floor. I did not often enjoy myself so easily, and I was going to milk it for all it was worth.

An hour or so later, drunken Mariah declared that it was time to toss the bouquet. I stood on a chair with the two women arranged before me. I turned my back to the two and launched the sharp bouquet behind me. With the origami women not giving any effort and Mariah being especially enthusiastic in her drunken state, she easily caught the bouquet, amazingly not slicing herself. Mariah turned to her fiance with tears in her eyes declaring, "I knew we were meant to be!" She then threw herself towards him with tears of joy streaming down her face.

The Jashin and blonde members were then cheering for the garter toss, so I sat down on the chair I had been standing on. Tobi began to suggestively reach up my leg, sending a light blush to my cheeks that I couldn't, or wouldn't, suppress. He smiled up at me with a twinkling light as he slowly drew the band down off my leg and over my foot. I pulled him forward into a kiss, pushing the mask away as he tossed the fabric to the cheering men behind him.

After several more romantic dances surrounded by the now familiar flickering firelight of the tables, the gentle light of the moon, and the infrequent light of the fireflies, the hour for our departure arrived. In another show of her flashiness, Mariah had hired a fireworks professional aided by the blonde to bid our farewell. Blossoms of fire bathed our parting buggy in reds, greens, and purples. Tobi and I snuggled closer together under a warm blanket, excitedly awaiting our arrival.


End file.
